The present invention relates to telephones having a keypad cover, i.e., cordless or cellular phones having a "flip" cover.
In the past few years, cellular phones ("cell phones") have become increasingly popular, in part due to improvements in the portability and convenience of these phones. Cellular phones now are generally compact, cordless units that in some cases are smaller than the handset of a conventional phone. Some cellular phones now include a "flip" cover, a flat cover that covers the keypad of the phone when the cover is in its closed position, and that pivots about a hinge at the base of the phone to an open position. The flip cover is provided both to protect the keypad of the phone and to provide the user of the phone with a sense that the user is "speaking into" the open flip cover (as the user of a conventional phone would speak into the lower portion of the handset). This latter function is thought to provide a certain sense of familiarity to users that are more accustomed to using conventional phones.
Other, non-cellular, cordless phones are also provided with flip covers for similar reasons.
One disadvantage of these flip covers is that the flip cover may be damaged if the cover is flexed beyond its normal position or if the phone is dropped while the flip cover is in the open position. This generally requires the user to replace either the flip cover or the entire phone, resulting in expense and inconvenience.